Missing tanker limps home

The Royal Thai Navy reported that the MT Orapin 4 reported missing on May 27 has been found.

The Thai diesel oil tanker, carrying 14 crew members, had lost contact with its owners on May 27 after leaving Singapore for Pontianak on Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo Island.

The Thai diesel oil tanker MT Orapin 4, carrying 14 crew members, drifted ashore in Sriracha on Sunday, June 1. The tanker had been missing since May 27, having fallen prey to pirates en route from Singapore to Borneo.

Royal Thai Navy secretary-general and spokesman Rear Admiral Karn Dee-ubol said the vessel was hijacked by pirates who had destroyed all communications equipment on board the ship, but that the crew was unharmed.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the pirates took 3 million liters of diesel, but left enough fuel for the vessel to return to shore.

This article was published in the Pattaya Mail newspaper on Friday June 6, 2014 (Vol. XXII No. 23).